Nearly 80,000 students return to LA Catholic schoolsNew superintendent for archdiocese and STEM Network initiative for three schools

Paul Escala, new senior director and superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, talks with St. John Bosco students before Mass on Aug. 15. (image: David Amador Rivera)

Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are beginning the 2019-2020 school year with innovative programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), a new high school in Burbank, key renovations and a new superintendent.

Paul M. Escala, new Superintendent of Catholic Schools, will oversee the more than 200 elementary and high schools spanning the tri-county Archdiocese of Los Angeles serving more than 78,000 students in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

“As we prepare for the new school year, I am delighted to share the good news about our new Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Paul Escala,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez. “Mr. Escala shares my strong commitment to academic excellence and educating our young people to know and love and follow Jesus Christ. He also shares my deep desire to make Catholic education available to every Catholic child, especially those in our highest need communities.”

Many students are welcoming the new school year with renovated spaces. Sacred Heart High School in Lincoln Heights boasts a new gymnasium, Our Lady of Loretto High School in Pico-Union is inaugurating a beach volleyball court, the first of its kind in the Archdiocese, and an overall renovation at Holy Spirit STEM Academy in Los Angeles was just completed.

After a year in the making, the STEM Network initiative will launch with three inner-city elementary schools: Holy Spirt STEM Academy, St. Turibius School and Divine Saviour School. The STEM Network is an all-encompassing learning ecosystem involving the network schools, community partnerships, and intentional parent engagement. Each year, the Network will onboard a new group of three schools; creating an ever-expanding network of Catholic elementary schools dedicated to teaching and learning using the STEM approach.

4 Comments

How many students were there at the end of the last school year? As I understand things, the LA Archdiocese includes Santa Barbara. Does the 80,000 figure include those in Catholic schools in Ventura and Santa Barbara? If yes, then 80,000 students is a very small portion of the five million Catholics the Archdiocese claimed in the footnote in the source article. Why am I confused

Mr. Bill, we don’t teach kids to make buggy whips anymore do we? STEM is a standard part of the school curriculum today. Science and technology need to be learned along with reading and writing and faith. A school system that doesn’t have an emphasis on engineering and science is depriving their student of the opportunity to be a success in the world. Low skill jobs are being replaced by robots. A college degree is the new 8th-grade diploma. You are correct, tuition is very high but the school’s expenses are very high. We no longer have nuns and sisters willing to work for nothing, or qualified teachers willing to work for peon wages. Schools need to compete for good faculty, who can make $70-125K in the public sector.

“success in the world” Pre-Vatican II, success meant getting to heaven. The World, as Catholics understood back then, was the devil’s. By original sin, we were born into that fallen world. At baptism, we’re extricated from it — the purpose of the exorcism performed outside the church (Traditional Rite).

“We no longer have nuns and sisters willing to work for nothing” Pre-Vatican II, they worked for Our Lord and for their eternal salvation.